The product that gave the world the most famous taste was created in Atlanta on May 8, 1886. year. The “Father” of Coca-Cola, John Pemberton, stated at the beginning that if he earned 25,000 American dollars (USD) by selling this drink, he would give 24,000 to advertising. Already in the next few years, the advertising budget of this company amounted to 500 thousand USD (one billboard cost 1 USD at that time). Today, this company sells over 1.7 billion bottles worldwide every day, and the annual advertising budget is over two billion USD.
What has remained unchanged during these (nearly) 125 years is the message: “Always Coca-Cola” .
The most famous and valuable global and American brand is sold in over 200 countries around the world . The Coca-Cola logo is recognized by 94% of the world’s population . According to the company’s reports, its name is the second most understandable term in the world, right after the word “okay” . In addition to this drink, the company has thousands of different drinks in its portfolio, to which many would never associate the name Coca-Cola .
Despite changes in management (three CEOs have changed since 2000), Coca-Cola has managed to maintain its leadership position in the United States of America (US) carbonated drinks market with a 42.8% share compared to Pepsi and its 31.1%
Of the total number of beverages consumed around the planet, 3.1% are Coca-Cola products. If every drop of Coca-Cola ever produced were bottled in an average 0.25L container and stacked on top of each other, they would reach the moon – but there and back over 2000 times. The average customer buys this company’s products every four days.
Mexicans drink the most Coca-Cola , an average of 665 times each year. Mexicans consume more Coca-Cola than Americans, British, Chinese and Indians combined. On average, Americans drink 399, British 202, Chinese 32 and Indians 9 times a year, which is a total of 642 consumptions of products bearing the name Coca-Cola .
Although the fact of the harmfulness of this carbonated drink has been repeatedly stated in the public, due to the high concentration of sugar, customers do not pay too much attention and like to buy this “wonderful sugared water” (even if there is no sugar, e.g. – Coca Cola Zero ). Americans consume 1.7 tons of sugar annually, which is approximately 4.9 kilograms per person, and that’s just from consuming Coca-Cola .
Coca-Cola produces so many different types of drinks today that if you wanted to try each of them, it would take you nine years. This company has a portfolio with over 3.5 thousand products (500 brands) that vary from: soda, energy drinks, water, to beverages based on soy as the main ingredient. The company also has over 1000 juices in its range, some of them are: Simply , Minute Maid , Fruitopia , Hi-C , Fuze and Odwalla. The sale of such diversified products brings an annual income of 35.1 billion USD, which puts it in 84th place on the list of the world’s strongest economies, right next to Costa Rica. Coca-Cola annually consumes 300,000 tons of aluminum for the packaging of its products in the US alone, which is 17.4% of what the aluminum industry produces in this country.
The value of the Coca-Cola brand is estimated at 74 billion USD , which is more than Budweiser , Pepsi , Starbucks and Red Bull combined.
When it comes to advertising, no company in the world does it like Coca-Cola. According to data for 2010, allocations for advertising amounted to 2.9 billion USD, which is more than the combined budgets of Microsoft 1.6 billion USD and Apple 691 million USD.
The previous two years were marked by innovation. In 2010, they launched a new packaging package. We are talking about the revolutionary PlantBottle PET packaging that can be 100% recycled and consists of 30% plants . This is a big step that Coca-Cola has taken to preserve the environment and sustainable development. According to predictions, the new packaging will change the world and the packaging industry, and this is supported by the fact that Heinz has made a strategic partnership with Coca-Cola and will pack its products in this packaging. For their unusual product, they have so far received two very prestigious awards: the Edison Award for the best new product in 2011 and the DuPont Award for Packaging Innovation.
In addition to PlantBottle , when it comes to innovations, we should definitely mention the unique advertising campaign that this company, in cooperation with the World Wide Fund for Nature, implemented in the Philippines last year. It is a unique billboard made of special Fukien tea plants, which absorb pollution from the air. The entire billboard is made of natural materials, the structure is made of 3600 recycled old Coca-Cola caps and a special irrigation and fertilization system was created so that the billboard is “alive”. Each of the plants can absorb 5.9 kilograms of carbon dioxide per year, which means that one such billboard (during one year) can absorb 21,228 kilograms of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This is the first billboard of its kind, and the management of the company stated that it will continue to incorporate the principle of sustainability in all activities of Coca-Cola .
Coca-Cola has been the number one brand in the world for several years. Whether he will manage to preserve his leadership position remains to be seen in the months ahead. The race for number one in 2012 is sure to be very interesting.
Author: Lada VUČENOVIĆ, MA, marketing manager at Intelligence doo